Pretty darn funny. Rick’s books are not bad for the first time visitor. We used him sometimes but often branched out away from the mainstream towns he focuses on. His hotel recommendations always worked well for us.

Some sights in Italy just cannot avoid lines and crowds, alas. The Sistine Chapel was so crowded in 2009 that we felt relieved just to get out of there. I’ve since seen a great online virtual tour of the Chapel that lets you spend as much time as you want to enjoy that art.